A Glimpse of Glory

I just read on Larry Calvin's blog (http://larrycalvin.blogspot.com), a story that got me to thinking. (Now there is a scary thought!!)

Here is an exerpt from it:

"In his autobiography, Bill Gaither recounts a time in his life when he was battling severe depression. A songwriter by both gift and trade, Gaither had entered a drought of creativity during which time NO songs were forthcoming and the prospects of any on the horizon seemed little to none.

Then came the day when he held his new-born son, Benji. Few experiences of life equal that. Those of you who have experienced it know what I'm talking about. Just last week, for the seventh time as Papa I held a precious grandbaby in my arms- Carter James Calvin. Praise God! For Gaither, that experience brought a song, the first in months and months, and the first of scores of lyrics that creatively flowed from his heart for the next few decades. Listen to this God-given masterpiece:

God sent His Son, they called him Jesus,
He came to love, heal, and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

How sweet to hold a new-born baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because he lives.

And then one day I’ll cross that river,
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain;
And then as death gives way to vict’ry,
I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know he reigns.

Because he lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives. "

Larry wrote this entry after holding a new grandson!!! Awesome.

What words...what revelation from a new born.

I was studying Enoch the other day. Such a concise description of a man, "he walked with God", with such incredible results, "and God took him-he was no more." You get the idea that God just coudn't wait to be with him-- that he wanted to be with Enoch face-to-face. Look deeper in the story and I found that he began to walk with God in his 65th year. (out of 365) That is also the year he had a son. What an incredible coincidence!!

I shared this insight in a sermon at church the other day and something happened after church that affirmed there is something there. A was visiting with a young woman who gave her life to Christ in the assembly that day. She said, "You know it was interesting what you were sharing about Enoch "walking with God" after he had his son. That is (three months ago) when I began seeking God-when my son was born."

Wow.

Paul says it like this: Rom 1:20
20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

i.e You hold a new born baby and you are without excuse.

Ever had a revelation of God from a baby created in His Image? What a beautiful thing. I can remember the sound of each of my children drawing their first breath's simultaneously as God breathed on me. I have been blessed to experience this breeze four times. What a wonderful God!!! Just because HE LIVES!!!!

Cowboyin with Samuel

Samuel got to go with me the other day to a little branding ( to all you city slickers, that is when you brand, vaccinate, castrate, etc. cattle) You sqeem, but you can thank all these folks for those tasty hamburgers, fajitas and steaks you enjoy!!
Samuel had a BLAST!!!

I haven't outgrown my love for cowboyin yet. This is on the Bed Rock ranch north of Decatur. 4,ooo acres that look just like Wyoming... What a blast...What an awesome time with Samuel... Next week I get to go out with a Real Chuckwagon for a day of branding on the Silverbrook Ranch out by Abilene. It is a "little" bigger, over 20,000 acres. They still rope the calves there and drag them to the fire. Enough room to actually get me a little saddle sore... God is so good!!!

Ready-AIM-FIRE!!!

Ready Aim!! Ready Aim!! Ready Aim!! Come on man, pull the trigger!!!

A friend of mine the other day, Brady Boyd to be exact, talked about how great we are at aiming, planning, dreaming, and how inept we are at doing, starting, and implementing. We ready aim, ready aim, ready aim, ad nauseam.

My friend suggests some times using the strategy of the old battle ships. Where the gunner would shoot and the guy in the watch tower(with binocolars) would yell, "Move 30 feet to the left!!" They would shoot again. "10 feet left!!" Boom. Bullseye!!!
Get the picture? You adjust and learn after you fire. Ready,FIRE,aim.

Why don't we pull the trigger? I think it mainly has to do with fear. Some see giants. Some see giant opportunity. It seems that almost every good thing in life comes from risk. Learning to ride a bike. Learning to swim. Asking someone to spend their life with you.

So go ahead FIRE!!! Pull the trigger. Take the leap. What is it that you are sitting on that your heart has told you to try? That "thing" God has called you to do?

READY? FIRE

Real People

The longer I am a pastor the more I desire to let people know that I am JUST like them. A peculiar thing happens when you are a "paid minister". People treat you different. It is amazing how peoples language goes through a "talking to preacher" filter. On the golf course, around the 3rd to 4th hole, when they find out what I do for a living, it is humorous to see men apologize profusely for the joke they just shared. Around the "church front" many times instead of saying "that person really hurt me", they say "Oh the enemy is trying to attack me" or "Oh blank!!,(enter the cuss word that people usually use), becomes, "Wow,I feel like David did when he was beseiged by his enemies in Psalms 68". People will say, "no way", oh yes it is so true. You think you get "church speak" at church, I get it everywere I go.

That why I am so blessed to have elders like I do. Todd Parks and Doug Vaughn are two jewels who have pastored churches and they are as real as the day is long. I am also blessed to many friends who are the same. In fact, there are too many to list. I tried it-- and it was getting out of hand. They are who they are, wherever they are, with whomever they are with. Praise God I MARRIED the real deal.


It is refreshing to be around people who are more concerned with how God sees them then how they appear. These people seem to bring the peace of God wherever they go. Sometimes I think this is an overlooked aspect of bringing the Kingdom of God to the world. In the Kingdom there is no insecurity. Instead there is a self-less confidence that is bold yet humble: it defies "earthly" logic but hints of a place where things are as they should be. It is beautiful, it is exotic, it is peaceful and it is daring. Those who cross the path of a Kingdom life seem to go in opposite directions. To some it brings intrigue and others it brings anger. To some it is the answer to what they have always hoped for, to others it fuels a fire of rage that consumes more life.

It's interesting, and I know it can be done ad nauseam, but when I make myself real in the pulpit, people really seem to respond. I just read a blog by Patric Mead called "Tent Pegs", he talked about being like Isaac. He admitted that he is a preacher because it keeps him going to church and he needs that. Oh he has a tremendous passion for God and Christ, it is just the church part he struggles with. He is introverted. A natural loner. And the guts to be real. I love an honest guy. I love that fact the bible is so honest. It is full of "real People". I am preaching a series called "FAith that Works", profiles of the "giants" of faith in Hebrews 11. The more I study these characters, and that is what they are!!!!, the more I see God's grace in it all. Noah gets of the good ship ARK , promplty plants a vineyard and gets drunk. Abraham sleeps with his maid and lies, not once, but twice about his wife to cover his own butt. Jacob- Oh my gosh!!! Talk about a manipulator!! ..... Rahab... all the real people. All these people riddled with fear and failures and what does God remember: their Faith. If it weren't for these "real people" I a might think that these "saints" never sinned. I might be inclined to think they were like all the perfect people in church. Like all those preachers who are so full of faith and have it all together. I might never know that God could use a weak, stained, narcisistic, Pharisee like me. Praise God he uses real people. The truth really does set us free.

It ocurred to me the other day how good a deal we really have: God places Jesus' righteousness on us, forgives and forgets our sin, and gives us credit for any good that we do. What a deal. I am given credit for the miniscule good, forgiven for the mountainous bad. What Grace. What a Savior. I can give my life to a God like that.